Sep 30

By Traci GardnerUncategorized Comments Off

A sick day is such a lovely thing. I think all the bed rest is helping. As long as I take the medicine, things hurt much less. The problem is that about 2 or 3 hours after taking the medicine, I feel dizzy and can’t keep my eyes open. So there have been several naps.

Between naps, I’ve been working on a lesson plan about the Gettysburg Address. I can’t seem to find my focus. I keep running into a wall where I’m not sure why I (or anyone) should be asking kids to work through this text. I know… it’s a great historical document; it’s one of those texts people expect you to know if you’re an American. But I can’t seem to figure out how to make it more than an exercise. I have great Web pages to use, and I know teachers teach it. It’s a good topic, but it feels fake to me. I need to find an approach that feels right.

I have other lesson plans that I could work on. I need to edit one that uses Elie Wiesel’s Night, another the works with The Grapes of Wrath, and an elementary one that I can’t remember the topic of. I also have rough starts on some lessons that I’m writing—one on reading and writing in the digital world, a newspaper lesson, and a word definition lesson. I hate to give up on the Gettysburg Address though, so I’m sticking with it. I can fit it into the November calendar if I can get it written (Lincoln delivered the address on November 19). Must get back to digging around for an approach that feels comfortable.

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